Cattle-stanchion.



w. 1. SNELSON.

I CATTLE STANCHION. APPLICATION FILED DEC;4| I917. I

Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

. N R N M William (fl/72mm ATTORNEY WILLIAM J. SNELSON', OF BEMIDJI, BHNNEEZQTA.

a tton of Letters Patented Nov 1%, i lfi.

Application filed December e, 1917. Serial Ho. 265,384..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1., WILLIAM J. SNELSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bemidji, in the county of Beltrami and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cattle-Stanchions, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cattle stanchions and more particularly to the operating mechanism therefor.

The main object of the invention is to so construct and connect a plurality of simple and eflicient stanchions that may be simultaneously opened or closed by the actuation of a single lever and in which one or more of them may be disconnected from the actuating mechanism so that the animals secured thereby may be retained when the others are loosened.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will. appear as the description.

proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter de scribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 represents a front elevation of a series of cattle stanchions constructed and operated in accordance with this invention,

intermediate posts being numbered 3 and the,

end posts 3. It is of course to be understood that any desired number of these posts may be employed according. to the size of the stable and the number of cattle to be housed. These members are here shown composed of gas pipe, although obviously they may be constructed of any other suitable material. One of the end uprights, here shown at theri ht hand end of the series,has a keeper or pulley support 4 in the form of a piece of strap iron fastened at its ends to one side of the post, preferably at the front thereof with its intermediate portion ofiset to form a housing between it and the post in which the pulley 5 is disposed and mounted to rotate. Similar housings a are carried by the intermediate posts 3 in longitudinal alinement with each other in which are mounted similar pulleys 5 which are designed to support a longitudinally movable rod or tube 6 which extends across the stanchions from end to end the stable-and is designed to operate the movable stanchion bars or rails in a manner presently to be described,

The right hand end of this operating rod 6 is normally spaced inward some distanw from the end post at that end of the series and has a coupling element 7 engaged therewith with which is connected at one end a cable 8. This cable 8 passes over pulley 5 and is secured to a lever 9 which is fulcrumed at one end on end post 3 at a point some distance below pulley 5. This lever has a lateral extension or arm 10 at its fulcrum end, the cable 8 being secured to the lever-intermediately of its ends. It will thus be seen that by throwing the lever 9 down into the dotted line position shown in l.

the cable 8 and rod 6 connected th *ewith will be moved to the right'which operate to open the stanchions in a manner presently to be described.

A hook or catch 11 of any suitable or desired construction is carried by post 3 below the fulcrum point of lever 9 and in'position to receive and hold said lever when lowered to prevent its accidental closing.

Suspended from the top member 1 or the supporting frame by-rods 12 are a plurality of stanchions 15, One of these stanchions is arranged between each pair of posts and each comprises a stationary member 16 in the form of an upright bar or rail 17 having arms 18 and 19 extended laterally at rightangles in the same direction from its opposite ends, the lower arm 19 being longer than the upper arm. The suspension rod 12 is connected with the upper arm 18 and a rod 20 connects arm 19 with the lower frame member 2, said arms being rotatable in a horizontal plane on said rod.

The movable stanchion member is in the form of an inverted L-shaped bar 21, the free end of the long arm of which is pivoted to the free end of arm 19 of the fixed member and is adapted to swing toward andaway from said member as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The short arm 22 of bar 21 is positioned to aline with arm 18 when closed and has a finger 23 extending laterally from its free end. This finger is designed to enter when bar 21 is closed between flared jaws or guides 24 which extend longitudinally from the free end of arm 18. I

A U-shaped fastener or latch 25 has the free ends of its legs pivotally mounted on arm 18, said legs being positioned on the upper and lower faces of said arms to ada t said latch to swing laterally into interloc ing. engagement with finger 23 when the stanchion is closed. (See Fig. 2). The cross bar of this latch 25 has an eye 26 in which is engaged one end of a connector in the form of a link 27 The other end of this connector 27 is engaged with a slide 28 carried by one member of a loop 29 which rises from the upper end of bar 17, being shown slightly curved inwardly throughout its length. This slide 28 carries a roller 30 which travels on the inner side member of the loop to facilitate the movement of the slide and prevents its binding.

A coiledspring 31 connects said slide with an upright extension 32 carried by the upper end of bar 21 and this spring exerts its tension to close said bar 21 when the operating mechanism is released which is occasioned when the lever 9 is swung u wardly into the full line position shown 1n ig. 1.

A flexible element here shown in the form of a chain 13 is connected at one end with the upper end of each'extension 32 and passes downward around a pulley 14 mounted in a suitable hanger 1 1 carried by each post 3. The other end of this chain is connected with a collar 33 clamped on a rod 6 and which may be adjusted thereon at the will of the operator.

From the above description and an inspection of Fig. 1, it is thought that the operation of this mechanism will be obvious, but a short description thereof will now be given.

When the parts are in the full line position shown in Fig. 1, which is the closed position of the stanchions, and it is desired to release the cattle held thereby, all that is necessary is for the operator to grasp the free end of lever 9 and swing it downwardly into the dotted line position shown at the right of Fig- 1. of lever 9 operates through the cable 8 to exert a longitudinal pulling movement on rod ti moving it toward the right and cansing a pull to be exerted onthe chains 13 which is imparted to the extensions 32 of the movable stanchion rail 21 thereby operating This downward swingingconnector 27 to swing outwardly the latch 25 disengaging it from the finger 23 carried by the terminal of the movable stanchion ra1l 21. i When this latch is disengaged the continued pull on the'cable caused by the upward movement of lever 9 forces the movable stanchion member 21 into open position as shown in dotted lines at the center of Fig. 1, this opening movement being against the tension of spring 31 and thereby'releases the animal whose head is held by the stanchion. When these stanchions have been so opened and it is desired to retain them in this position the lever is engaged with the catch 11 as shown in the dotted line position at the right of Fig. 1 and while said lever is so engaged the stanchion side bars or rails 21 cannot close. I

When the animals enter the stalls and insert their heads between the fixed side bars '17 and the open movable side bars or rails 21 and it is desired to secure them in the stanchions, an attendant disengages catch 11 from the lever 9 and swings said lever into upright position as-shown in full lines in Fig. 1. This upward movement of the lever causes a slack 1n cable 8 and the tensiBn of springs 31 operate through the flexible element 13 to shift the rod 6 longitudinally toward the left and at the same time the side rails 21 are moved toward the rails 17 in closed position shown in full lines in Fig. 1, the fingers 23 of the side members entering between'the flared jaws 24 and are interlockingly en aged by the forward swinging movement 0 the latches 25. It will thus be seen that when in this position the slides 28 will have moved downwardly on the side bar or member of the loops 29 and the tension of the springs 31 will operate to hold them in this position and thereby prevent all possibility of the animals becoming accidentally released.

When it is desired to retain one or more animals within their respective stalls and to release the others, this may be accomplished by disengaging th end of chain 13 from the extension 32 of the stanchion which holds the animal desired to remain and when this is accomplished it will be obvious that the movement of rod 6 will in no way affect this particular stanchion. This detachable connection of chain 13 with the extension 32 is. provided for by means of an eye bolt 34 carried by the upper end of the extension with which is connected a hook 35 at the end of chain 13 When it is again desired to connect this stanchion of the series for simultaneous actuation with the other stanchions all that is necessary is to engage hook 35 with the eye bolt 3Land the movement of rod 6 will actuate the stanchion in the manner above described.

It is to be understood that while the ac- Less,

tuating mechanism is shown arranged at one end only of the series of stanchions, a similar mechanism may bearranged at the other end so that the animals may be released by an attendant at either end of the stable.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying draw ings, the advanta es of the construction and of the method 0 operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains and while Ihave described the principle of operation of the invention together with the device which I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the device shown is merely illustrative and that such changes may be made as are with in the scope of the claimed invention.

I claim 1. A stanchion comprising a fixed and a movable side bar, cooperating means carried by said bars for holding them in closed relation, an upstanding member carried by said fixed side bar, a slide adapted to travel on said member, a connector between said slide and said coiiperating locking means whereby movement of the slide in one direction operates to release said means and an element connected with said slide and operable from a point remote to release said lockin 1 means. 4

2. A stanchion comprising a fixed member composed of an upright bar having laterall extending arms projecting in the same direction, an inverted L-shaped bar having its long arm pivotally engaged with the lower arm of said first mentioned bar and its short arm extending toward the upper arm of said fixed bar, said upper arm having flared jaws to receive the arm of said movable bar, cooperating elements carried by said arms for interlocking engagement, and spring retracted 'projectable means connected with said cooperating means for releasing the movable member at a point remote.

3. A stanchion comprising an upright fixed side bar having laterally extending arms at its opposite ends projecting in the same direction, the lower arm being longer than the upper, an inverted L-shaped movable side bar having the free end of its long arm pivotally engaged with the lower arm of said fixed bar, a finger extending laterally from the short arm of said movable bar, a pair of vertically spaced jaws carried by the short arm of said fixed bar to receive said finger, a U-shaped latch mounted to swing laterally into and out of engagement with said finger, an upright rising from said v fixed-bar, a slide movable on said upright,

same direction, the lower arm being longer than the upper, an inverted L-shaped mov able side bar having the free end of its long arm pivotally engaged with the lower arm of said fixed bar, a finger extending laterally from the short arm of said movable bar, a pair of vertically spaced jaws carried by the short arm of said fixed bar to receive said finger, a U-shaped latch mounted to swin laterally into and out of engagement wit said finger, an upright risin from said fixed bar, a slide movable on sai upright, a connection between said slide and said latch, a coiled spring connected at one end with said slide, an upright rising from said movable bar and connected with the other end of said coiled spring, a flexible element connected with the upper end of the upright carried by said movable bar, and means connected with said flexible element for exerting a pull on said spring whereby said latch is released and the movable member of the stanchion opened.

5. A stanchion comprising a fixed side bar, amovable side bar pivotally connected at one end thereto, a latch for connecting the free ends of said side bars, a loop shaped member rising from said fixed bar, a-slide movable on one member of saidloop, a link connecting said slide with said latch, an upright rising from said movable bar, a coiled spring connecting said slide with said upright, and means connected with said upright for exerting a pulling action on said spring whereby the slide is moved upwardly on said loop and the latch disengaged thereby releasing said movable bar and adapting it to open when a further pull is exerted on said upright.

In testimony whereof I affix my slgnature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM J. SNELSON.

Witnesses:

J. E. GAnsoN,

G. Tnos. SPAIN. 

